


The Sun Setting on Childhood Dreams...

by WhittneytheScorpionSuccubus



Series: A Latte Sounds Really Good Right Now... [1]
Category: Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Babysitters, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Maid Cafe, Babysitting, Childhood Memories, Childhood Trauma, F/F, F/M, Flashbacks, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Multi, Multiple Pairings, Multiple Relationships, Mutual Pining, Mutually Unrequited, Other, POV Multiple, Past Child Abuse, Slow To Update, mentions of Bao Bao, mentions of Bobo-chan, mentions of a highschool
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2021-01-08 02:08:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21228026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhittneytheScorpionSuccubus/pseuds/WhittneytheScorpionSuccubus
Summary: A simple, yet not so simple Mao Mao: Heroes of Pure Heart  - BadgerMao AU(s) Story [Read the tags to figure out what AUs I'm throwing together in this lovely little blender<3]But anyway I hope you do enjoy my fic as much as I enjoy writing it!<3





	1. Character Introductions + Locations ♥✨

**Author's Note:**

> As the title explains, this chapter is just the introduction to a basic summary of how I'm going to portray the MM:PoHV characters, in my AU Amalgam... <3

{{{Before we even remotely get started with this story, let's set the locations and meet the cast first!💠  
Note: Somethings may fall into canon while other things may not, so you're being forwarned!<3}}}

Location, Location, Location!  
Pure Heart Valley will be broken down into 3 different places -   
**The University: P. Heart Uni, a very exclusive and secret college that have one the highest gradaduate and GPA output in the world, but they are very picky with who they allow into their school  
**The Maid Cafe: Pure Ruby Heart Kawaii Maid's Cafe, a very popular Maid Cafe where all the otakus, weebs, and weeabos come to from far and wide.  
**The Town/Village: Tender Heart Valley, sleepy little twon with farmers markets, family stores, a few chain places, family resturants/bakeries, etc. Just a simple little place to live and settle down in.

The Mao Family Residence:  
**Their University: Long Mao University, The college that his family has been running ever since it was first started by the First academically inclined Mao in the Family (The school is currently ran and mananged by Momma Mao)  
**Their Home: Some place far away from where Mao Mao is...  
**Their Dojo: The Mao Dojo, it's been around longer than the school, as it was built and started by the very first Hero Mao in the family and has been running fine ever since...  
**Mao Mao's old town: Again someplace far away from Mao Mao...

In the Main Cast cast we have:   
-Mao Mao Mao: The valedictorian of both his old Highschool and now current College - P. Heart Uni (very exclusive Uni that only allow in a select few who they believe can become the best of the best), that he got a letter from as he the highest grades anyone has ever seen (besides his sisters, who because of this his father doesn't believe him). Has been best friends with Badgerclops ever since middle school and has always been the more responsible between the two of them. (Is surprised at how Badgerclops into college in the first place). Thanks to his father he's a workaholic.  
Additional Note on Mao Mao: Works at the Cafe, wears a uniforms (cross-dressing); owns a motor/aero-cycles; is top of his classes (valedictorian); his family is STUPID rich, but he doesn't like using his family's money; got into the Uni. via full scholarship; pays off his tutition on his own; will someties sing st the Cafe, when their normal singer is out sick or is just not feeling like it;

-Badgerclops: best friends with Mao Mao since they met each other in middleschool. Is constantly surprised (and worried) at how Mao Mao hasn't burned himself out yet. Does a side gig as freelance mechanic/electrician/technician, plus he helps out Mao Mao with babysitting (and eventually raise) Adorabat

-Adorabat: A young hyperactive child who constantly being babysat by Mao Mao & Badgerclops, as her birth parents are constantly working and going business trips. She still loves art, violence,and mischief

-Orangusnake: He is actually a criminal duo named Coby (snake) and Tanner (orangutan); Coby is the brains of the bunch and voice of the gang and Tanner is the quiet muscle who lovingly supports Coby through all of his plans.

-Ramaraffe: An ex-cheerleader who got kicked off of the cheer squad for growing too tall and decided to join up with Orangusnake, to help cause a bit of trouble. 

-Boss Hosstrich: A theater kid who was kicked out of the club for constantly trying to sabatoge the lead roles and take their leading roles in almost EVERY school play. Joins Orangusnake to seek vengance for being so horribly wronged

-Ratarang: Son of a mafia boss, not alot of people wanna hang out with him, except for Orangusnake who immediately became friend with him. 

-Rufus: [a sly and cunning fox who swindles the Sweetypies of Pure Heart Valley.] A simple fox from a town over whose the sone of a business man and will constantly try and make a quick cash grab off of the residents of Tender Heart Valley.

-Reggie: [a raccoon and Rufus' sidekick.] Reggie's childhood friend ever since elementary school, blindly follows Reggie with his plans.

-King Snugglemagne the 25th: Own and Manages the Cafe while his Dad runs the town, he also goes to school with Mao Mao as he is one of the College juniors...

-Tanya Keys: a female tanuki and former friend of Mao Mao's who makes a living as a package dropper. She loves to mess with him, but wants him to be more carefree like her despite Mao Mao’s disgust of her being a carrier rather than her just applying to be mailman. (I'm letting her keep her ability to transform herself and leaves into people and objects.) She especially loves freaking him out about when starts delivering packages for criminals.

-Badgerclops' Grandma: a sweet little old lady who takes care of Badgerclops from now on; His father's mother, who sadly has no idea where son is.

In the Side Cast cast we have:  
Scoops: [a small donkey that runs the news in Pure Heart Valley.] The Head of the school's paper/news blog, daughter of the local newspaper publisher of the town. 

-Camille: [a chameleon and royal magic user to Pure Heart Valley.] Science Proffessor, has a couple of misdomeaners and is teachiing at the Uni or community service.

-Honey: [a flying squirrel and Camille's silent apprentice.] The rookie parol officer who keeps an eye on Camille.

-Chef Rhett: [the royal chef of Pure Heart Valley.] The Head Chef of the Pure Ruby Heart Kawaii Maid's Cafe, who makes most if not all of the known dishes in menu at the Cafe.

-Pinky: [a small pink rhinoceros who is considered disturbing by the residents of Pure Heart Valley.] A Retail/Customer Service Worker's worst nightmare.

-Ketchup: [a pink fluffy gopher with strange interests.] A stalker of all of the "girls" who work at the cafe...

-Kevin: [a small blue squirrel with no fingers.] A classmate of Adorabat's

-Chubbum: [a dorky frog who is very friendly.] A classmate of Adorabat's

-Mail Mole: [a mole who is eager to get the job done.] The towns local mailman.

-Ol' Blue: [a citizen of Pure Heart Valley who is a therapist and not easily impressed.] Guiadance Counselor/School Therapist

-Marion: [a horse in Pure Heart Valley who is always working out.] The college's gym teacher.

-Benny: [a yellow dog who is a citizen of Pure Heart Valley.] One half of a braincell...

-Penny: [a pink dog who is a citizen of Pure Heart Valley.] One half of a braincell...

-Farmer Bun: [a pink rabbit with a big orange hat in Pure Heart Valley.] Local farmer of the little town

-Muffins: [a mouse in Pure Heart Valley who bakes muffins. Adorabat does not like her.] Owns and runs a family bakery, makes sweets all day.

-Silly Billy: [a violet elephant who is a news anchor in Pure Heart Valley.] Big wig news anchor... 

-Clark Lockjaw: [a tiny blue seal who is a news reporter in Pure Heart Valley.] Big wig news anchor... 

-Teacher: [the teacher at Adorabat's school in Pure Heart Valley.] Adorabat's Preschool Teacher, until Adorabat gets a bit older and has a different teacher...

-Meditatin' Melvin: [a meditating monkey who achieved the ability to astral project simply to get out of going to the dentist.] He comes to the Cafe and tries to pick up girls (and occasionally Mao Mao) cause he's lonely!!!!

In "I'm not sure where to place them, yet" we have:  
Mao Mao's family:  
-Shin Mao: [Mao Mao's father, who seems to have a strained relationship with him. He gifted Mao Mao his golden sword while giving his sisters more impressive weapons. It is revealed that he is small like Mao Mao and ultimately learns to be more appreciative of his son.

-Brunhilde Mao: a large knight with a golden spear that can pierce anything.

-Haruto Mao: A ninja with a golden scarf that grants the wearer supersonic flight.

-An Ming Mao: A monk with a golden hat that can store infinite items.

-Qiaolian Mao: A martial-artist with golden bangles that grant impenetrable defense.

-Vesper Mao: A sorcerer with golden eye-contacts that offer incredible sight.

-Mao Mao's mother/Mama Mao/May-lin: [who once informed her son that his father was visiting.] A sweet and caring mother, who wants all of her children to grow-up happy and healthy, if only she could get her husband to stop treating the children like warriors and more like kids. She's prone to very violent panic attacks even though she's usually quite calm. she will often check on Mao Mao and the girls to see if they're okay and talk about their problems with them.

-Uncle Jim Jim: Mao Mao's uncle who, despite being a spirit, is still technically alive and possibly a barbarian.

-Great-Great Paternal Grandfather Twig: Mao Mao's grandfather who was a sumo warrior.

-Great-Great Aunt Blackbeard: Mao Mao's aunt who was a pirate warrior.

In the Honorable Mentions we have:  
Thicket Thieves:   
-Tiny Toad:   
-Bullmozer:   
-Ratracer: 

Bao Bao: Mao Mao's original partner, a common dog with a sword that does amazing tricks. Mao Mao is apparently unaware of the fact that he is incapable of free thinking as he "betrayed" (actually just got distracted by a butterfly) and left him. Mao Mao eventually accepts that he has a mind of his own.

Bobo Chan: a young female monster that Badgerclops adopts after seeing her hatch from an egg. She quickly grows to full size after Badgerclops had to leave her in the wild.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please do understand that this list is subject to changing, depending on how my story progresses, also you won't have to worry about having to go back to this chapter as you progress through the series.  
Each part of the series will include the character listings as the supposed "first chapter", along with any updates or changes made to the list as I'm not one to make my readers have to hunt and go back for things when I can make their reading experience simpler.


	2. A Warm Summer Dawn...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time get angsty and a little anime-ish! Also, please do be mindful, this might be triggering for some of you to read, so please do be careful. But other than that, I hope you (can try to) enjoy the story!   
＼(-o-)／

It was the last week of summer as Mao Mao and Badgerclops were cruising down to the beach to enjoy the summer sun. Somehow, coming down to the Mao Family's Private Beach had managed to become one of their "Best Friend Traditions" ever since they first meet eachother on this exact beach over a decade ago...

Originally when Mao Mao came down to the beach it was with his mother, who like him had always been left behind while Shin Mao and his sister went on a training reteat. Leaving Mama Mao to alway console her sobbing child, so in all her wisdom she took Mao Mao to the beach, to let him have fun, so he could enjoy the sunset and other simpler things in life, as she also trained him in the true Mao Family's style.  
For Badgerclops, it was to escape his drunkard of a mother, who kept trying to drink herself to death, because his father (her second husband) one day just took his paycheck and ran for the hills. Making Badgerclops the prime outlet for her anger anytime she thought of that man. His older half-brother would always get praised, since his father was a war hero and died honorably in combat, meaning in her eyes he could do no wrong. So because of this he ended up learning her drinking behavior patterns pretty quickly and learned how to hide and even escape the house, when her drinking fits got too violent. He'd always escape to the Mao families private beach because he knew how much everyone, or so he thought, feared the Mao Family.  
Badgerclops would always hide somewhere sobbing and stress eating, as it was one of the only ways he could actually keep food in body, without his mother snatching it away from him claiming he's too fat and he needs to lose some weight and for him to get off of his ass and do more work around the house instead of just sitting their stuffing his face.  
This went on for a couple of years, until Mao Mao and his mother found Badgerclops and invited him out his hiding hole and asked if they wanted to come join him. To which Badgerclops agreed as he could tell that Mama Mao was an incredibly kind soul and Mao Mao was just a kid as well. So that day became their first encounter with eachother, making Mama Mao so happy that Mao Mao finally fund someone his age to hang out with.  
As the day went on they were all enjoying themselves, until Badgerclops's Mom showed up onto the beach drunk out of mind with her eldest son following in tow, trying to keep her upright. As she got closer, noone there was able to react fast enough before she sidelined Badgerclops in the face with the bottle she was carrying permenantly blinding him in his left eye. Everyone there was in shock and awe as they watched her barrate her now bleeding son, Mao Mao ran over to Badgerclops and with his extensive medical knowledge started treating Badgerclops, while Mama Mao handled everthing else.  
Mao Mao wasn't able to see his mom's combat prowess in action that day because he was so worried about his new friend dying on him that day, so by the time Mao Mao looked up again after stablizing Badgerclops, his mother was in much worse condition than he was. It was one of the first few times Mao Mao has ever his mother get mad or disheveled, his mom was usually the calmest out of everyone in the household so to her like this actually made him think she was super cool.

Shortly after the incident, the Mao Family's Private Police Force showed up and arrested Badgerclops' Mom, he older brother was nowhere to be seen, as he fled as soon as she bludgoned Badgerclops with the bottle. So they were still looking for him to ask for his side of the story and to hold him for a couple of days for trespassing on private property. After that, Badgerclops had to stay in the hospital to make sure everything was okay, though while Mao Mao did an excellent job helping his friend, the damage the bottle casued from how it was swung into his face, permenantly damaged that eye. Making Mao Mao feel guilty that he couldn't save his new friends eye, causing him to go into a small panick attack as he realized that he didn't do a good enough job and that it was all his fault that he was now half-blind. His mom, began to console him as Badgerclops realized that his new friend was just as fucked up as he is, so he wanted to help out, in the only way he knew how.  
"Hey, Mao Mao"  
"Huh?", he gasped as he broke out of his spiral  
"Knock Knock."  
"Um... Who's there?", Mao replied, wiping his tears away  
"Boo?"  
"Boo Who?"  
"No need to cry, buddy, it's just a joke."  
After Badgerclops said the joke, there was a moment of tense silence before Mao Mao snorted and started giggling at Badgerclops' joke. Making Badgerclops breathe a sigh of relief as he could calm dowm Mao Mao.  
"So, dude, why did you start crying?"  
"Why are you gonna make fun of me for crying?"  
"No, no, I wanted to know why you aren't happier? Mao Mao, the doctor said if you hadn't gotten the glass out of me as soon as you did, I'd have been in a much worse conditioner than I'm in now!"  
"The word is 'condition', sweetie", Mama Mao corrected  
"Sorry, Ma'am, condition."  
"It's alright, dearie"  
"But seriously, why aren't you happier?"  
"Because, I couldn't save your eye..."  
"Oh... Well, if it makes you feel any better, even the doctor couldn't fix it. My... mom... really did a number on me, when she hit me with that bottle."  
"He is correct, his eye was damaged on impact, meaning there was nothing ANYONE could've done for him." The Mao Family Doctor interjected.

Mao Mao pouted at the thought, but felt a slightly guilty relief that even the doctor was unsuccessful as well. But then that begs the question, "What happens with Badgerclops now?", Mama Mao asks with a look of fear and worry in her eyes.  
"Don't worry, he'll be living with his next of kin, his grandmother from his Father's side.", the Doctor reassured.  
"Wait, I have a grandma?", Badgerclops said confused  
"Yes, why?"  
"How come she's never come over to visit before?", he slightly looked like he was about to cry.  
"Because, everytime I would come and visit your mother scorned me with each and every visit.", a sweet little old voice interupted.  
Everyone looked over towards the door where the voice was coming from and saw a tiny, little badger with kindness and wisdom aged onto her face. She just barely reached Mama Mao's waist line and though while she was taller than the boys now, that wouldn't last for long with the way they were growing.  
"My son really did a number on her didn't he?", she sighed as she got closer to Badgerclops, in fear he reocoiled when she reach out her hand only for him to ask, "Are you going to punish me? Was I too noisy again?"  
THe old badger looked at him with only kindness in her eyes as she went to go gently pat and carress the sweet child's face. Only to have him start crying as he hasn't had anyoe treat him kindly ever since his dad left his mom and honestly the tears wouldn't stop, things finally might be going right in his life!

After a few of days of rehabilitation, with the help of Mao Mao, Mama Mao, and Grandmaclops, Badgerclops was able to make a full and swift recovery. However, good times can only last for so long as bad news swiftly follows after, as Badgerclops and Mao Mao learned that they wouldn't be able to stay together, since Grandmaclops lives out on the outskirts of town. Making both of them freak out as they couldn't hang out anymore and since neither of them wanted to lose they're brand new and only friend, so they decided to run together! By using two large towels to pack food for themselves and the bedsheets of the medical bed as a rope, they made their escape out of the window and into the woods by the hospital.  
"So where do we go now, Mao Mao?", Badgerclops huffed as they took a quick break to plan the next step of their ingenious plan.  
"Hmm," Mao Mao pondered his question for a bit, then an idea struck, "Oh! I know! There's a special spot in the woods behind my house, we can hide there!"  
"Alright! Wait, where is your house?"  
"A few blocks from here, why?"  
"Oh, no reason, come on let's go!"  
"Yeah!", Mao Mao exclaimed as he took Badgerclops' hand and lead them to his house.

Meanwhile, back the hospital Mama Mao and Grandmaclops had just finished their conversation, only to find the room the boys were in completely ransacked and ruined. Grandmaclops made a distressed sigh as she entered and examined the room, however Mama Mao was about to have a catastrophic meltdown as panic set in as she wondered where her precious child went and if he's okay. Mama Mao's furr began to puff out, her pupils shrank and clawa and fangs were beared as she began ripping through the hospital looking for Mao Mao.  
Back in the woods with the boys, they finally make it Mao Mao's house with Mao Mao helping Badgerclops navigate the woods, until they got to the stairway that lead to his house making Badgerclops gasp in shock and awe upon seeing it.  
"DUDE! Is this your HOUSE!?", Badgerclops exclaimed  
"Yes, why?"  
"IT'S HUGE!"  
"Oh, well yeah, my family has a lot of money!"  
"Oh, okay.", Badgerclops mulled over Mao Mao's words as they began to acsend the stairway of the Mao Family Mansion, hand in hand.  
However back at the hospital Mama Mao is lifting up medical beds high above her head, some still with patients still in them looking for Mao Mao.  
"Mao Mao? Mao~ Mao~? MAO MAO!?", she repeated this like a mantra, like it was some for of magic spell that could summon her son to her side. The whole hospital was terrified of her luckily her brother ran the hospital and was quickily alerted by one of the nursing staff that his sister was "destroying" the hospital. So he came out of his office to go see what all the commotion was about, only to come out and find his sister in one of the empty patient room, crying and having a full blown panic attack.  
"May-lin...", her brother called her name, but there was still no response from her.  
"May-lin?", his tone a little more concerned this time, as he got closer to his sister, until he was sitting next to her.  
"May-lin, what's wrong?", he finally asked as he broght his sister in close for a hug while his sister continued sobbing.  
"Mao Mao's gone!", she finally choked out through the tears, "And I can't find him!", she continued sobbing  
"Hmm. That is bad, though what if I told you I knew where they were?", he said in such in a matter of fact way that May-lin couldn't tell if he was serious or if he was just saying something to break her out of her trance. So all she could say was "Show me." and her brother was happy to obliege.

During that time, Mao Mao was still helping Badgerclops up the stairs, who was quickly becoming winded as he wasn't used to climbing this many stares on his own. So Mao Mao using his quick wit, puts the food towel he was carrying on his front and positioned himself so that way Badgerclops could ride on his back.  
"Hop on!", Mao Mao exclaimed cheerily  
"Won't I be too heavy?", Badgerclops mumbled  
"Nope! Now hop on!", Mao Mao said with a grin on his face as Badgerclops blushed a little bit and walked over to Mao Mao to get onto his back. As Badgerclops climbed onto Mao Mao's back he thought for sure that Mao Mao was going to buckle under his weight, only to be prove wrong when Mao Mao picked him, his food towel, and his own food towel that he's holding on his front. Making Badgerclops feel something funny in his chest and it got even funnier feeling when Mao Mao smiled at him as he scaled up the Mao Family Mansion's stairs with ease, the climbing up two stairs at a time kind of ease.  
On another note, back at the hospital May-lin, her brother and Grandmaclops are reviewing the security footage of the hospital to see what happened to the boys. Only to find out that the boys overheard May-lin and Grandmaclops' conversation and had made a plan to run away as they watched them raid the kitchen for food with 2 large bath towels. While Mao Mao was hard to spot as he had been training in the art of stealth with his mom, Badgerclops was quite easy to notice as he tried to copy Mao Mao's moves only to fail miserably and for Mao Mao to come out of hiding to help him. Then they watched the rest of the footage to see that the boys then made a rope and escaped out the room they were staying in. Then they switched to the outside viewing cameras to see that fled into the forest, out of sight of the cameras, "Mkay, that good.", May-lin's brother sighed as he leaned back in his chair. Only for May-lin to pick him up by his collar like a kitten and say, "Explain to me, how this situation is good?", she said with her fangs bare and her claws primed and ready.  
"Because, the entire time that they were planning their escape, they never took off their medical bracelets."  
"So?"  
"There are tracking devices in the bracelets, they were installed a couple od years ago after one of my patience had a psychotic episode, broke out of the hospital and killed 10 people, before being shot down by the police.", he sheepishly replied back to his sister.  
May-lin stood there with such a flabbergasted look on her face, that she had to put her brother down and leave the room for a minute. Her brother took the oppertunity of her absence to pull out his patient tracker pad, though luckily it only becomes active when someone is a certain distance away from the hospital and since the boys haven't been cleared yet, so it was still operational.  
While those three, got there act together to go find the boys, Mao Mao and Badgerclops finally arrived at there destination. 

"TA-DA!", Mao Mao declared with pride as they ended up in a beautiful clearing in the forest with a large lake, filled with fish, with the treetops seperated enough for the afternoon sky to paint a breathtaking picture on the sky above them, making the lake look like it was blessed by the fae. Along with the crown jewel of the lake is on the other side of it was the Mao Family's Sacred Tree; a willow cherry blossom tree hybrid that was the only one of its kind and stood high above all the other trees as its branches sloped down gently making a beautiful curtain of branches, leaves and cherry blossoms, making that funny feeling in Badgerclops' chest return.


	3. Saturday Summer Mornings...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to get a lil' sweet and anime-ish, epescially after that bit trauma that happened...

As Badgerclops looked at the scene before him he was really awestruck, as he had never seen something this beautiful in his life, to the point that he actually started crying. Making Mao Mao panic as he couldn't figure out why his new friend was crying all of a sudden, "Badgerclops, are you okay!?"  
"Eberyfing soooooooooooooo pfetty!", he sobbed  
"Oh, okay.", Mao Mao sighed  
"I wabba daw it, but I dwon't hab any paber!"  
"Oh, is that all? I have some paper, right here!", Mao Mao exclaims as he dips under the leaves of the Cherry Willow and returns with paper and crayons, along with a box of box of tissues.  
"Here you go.", He smiled as he handed Badgerclops the box of tissues first making Badgerclops feel that funny warm feeling inside of his chest again. So when he looked up at Mao Mao with a befuddled and confused look, Mao Mao wore another worried look on his face, making Badgerclops snap out of his trance as he took some tissues and began wiping his face off.   
Once, Badgerclops was done, Mao Mao handed him a bunch of paper and a giant box of crayons, making Badgerclops perk up a bit as he tried his best to replicate the beautiful scene before him. Mao Mao watched in awe of Badgerclops' artistic skill, only to have Badgerclops freak out when he realized that he was being watched, especially after he realized that Mao Mao was now taking advantage of his newfound blindspot.  
"Dude! No! Don't look yet, please!" Badgerclop whined "You can aleast tell me that it's bad after I'm finished..."  
"Why would I say it's bad? It looked almost like the real thing!", Mao Mao praised, making Badgerclops blush as he somewhat uncovers his picture.  
"You're just saying that, you're probably way at drawing than I am...", Badgerclops grumbled  
"Mm-mm, I can't draw as good as you! I don't know how!", Mao Mao stated as he went back under the cherry willow tree, only to pull out all of his drawings. Which were, in fact, nothing more than a couple of (slightly poor for a child) doodles of some other catfolk like him with golden items and stuff on their bodies. Along with very detailed, yet very extensive notes on who each one of them were and what each golden object did, all while Badgerclops realized he was kinda true, he noticed how neat and cool and kinda strange his hand writing is. Some of it was in the format of shapes, pictures, and lines and circles other times it looked like english but some of the letters came with extra lines and dots and sometimes the letter would look completely off.  
"What is this!? I can't even read some of this stuff!"  
"Oh! That's because I wrote everything in the same language as the contry as that relative comes from and speaks!", Mao Mao beamed at his words, all while Badgerclops was starstruck at how in the world he knew so many languages as Mao Mao explained what each one were. Though as Bagderclops flipped through all of the pages, he finally came across a page that made Mao Mao blush in embarassement, it was a drawing of him with a pet dog in green garb and armor with everything in plain to read english with a bit of japanese mixed in, with the page titled 'Mao Mao the Most Legendaryest Hero EVER!' making him look like an anime character.   
"Y-y-you weren't supposed t-"  
"Du~de...", Badgerclops whined as he started tearing up again, "You lied to me these look awesome! You said you couldn't draw!"  
"But I can't draw as good as my sisters, though...", Mao Mao huffed, as they started to argue, only to get distracted trying to catch a rhino beetle, apologizing to each other afterwrads and playing away the rest of the afternoon away.

At the same time of all of this going down, May-lin, her brother and Grandmaclops, riding in the back seat of May-lin's van, as they followed the tracker pad to where the boys were located, making May-lin ansty at the fact that she hasn't seen the kids yet as they continued searching for them. Her brother kept an eye one the road and the tracker, as he had it set to road based travel so that it doesn't tell them to turn left into a forrest again.  
"Explain to me again, why I can't even drive my own van?", May-lin hissed  
"Because, you almost got us killed by listening to the tracker pad telling you to turn right, into what was clearly a forrest!"  
"So what? The family van can take it, I've seen Shin Mao run it into much tougher things than a tree..."  
"YES, BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN I SUDDENLY WANT TO GET THRUSTED INTO A BUNCH OF FUCKING TREES!"  
"STOP BEING A COWARD, YOU BABY! ITS JUST A COUPLE OF TREES!"   
"THAT IS NOT SOMETHING A SANE PERSON SAYS! I may take walks in the woods, but I'm not trying to get that up close and personal with the trees, YOU FUCKING LUNATIC!!"  
"Whatever, you would never understand how I'm feeling anyways, I just want to make sure that Mao Mao is okay...", she began sobbing as the sky became overcast and followed suit as it begun to rain making May-lin's pupils shrink in fear as she had no idea where her son was and she knew Shin Mao wasn't going the be home for another 2 weeks with the girls. She feared for the worse, as she believed that her son and his new friend might die out in the cold, scared and alone, wondering why she wasn't there to protect him.  
As her panic attack continued to spiral, Grandmaclops pulled May-lin's seat down towards herself and started gently rubbing a homemade essential oils mix of lavender, clover honey, rosemary, ginseng and some other things into May-lin's temples making the panic attack subside slowly as it seemed to ebb and flow out of her body like water. Making the search for the boys a little calmer, but the tension was still there as her brother speed up, after they turned the corner.

As the rain slowly came down over the boys, they quickly realized that their playtime was over as Badgerclops quickly tried to run away from the rain, only to see Mao Mao walking towards a large tree. Or so he thought, because as got closer to Mao Mao, he realized that was walking towards a weird looking plant with giant leaves and that Mao Mao was reaching for one of those leaves. Mao Mao simply plucked one and placed it above Badgerclops' head and smiling at him, making that warm feeling in his chest return as he took the leaf from Mao Mao and thanked him, as Mao Mao nodded in confirmation, he went back over to the plant and picked another leaf for himself and then guided Badgerlops back to his backyard.   
Once they got back by the lake, it was dark out and Badgerclop was getting scared, only to have Mao Mao grab his hand and quickly guided him towards the weeping cherry blossom tree. However, before Badgerclops could protest about staying out in the rain, he was already inside the protective branches of the tree. On the outside it's branches appear flimsy because they can't be seen behind the cherry blossoms, but once under the tree Badgerclops realised that the branches are much thicker than they appear creating what is essentially, a giant umbrella. 

However, it was still dark and it was making Badgerclops ansty again, until Mao Mao turned on a pocket flashlight, that he used to help him see while he climbed up the tree's trunk and dug into the tree's hollow and pulled out a camping latern! Once Mao Mao turned on the latern, it lit up the tree with such soft warm glow that it made Badgerclops's chest and stomach go all a flutter. Mao Mao jumped down from the tree's trunk and landed with such prescion, that Badgerclops couldn't help but clap at how in awe he was with Mao Mao's skill, making Mao Mao blush himself.  
"Aw shucks, you don't have to clap for me it was just a simple flip...", he mumbled behind his leaf  
"But Mao Mao, dude, that was awesome!", Badgerclops praised  
"T-Thanks... Hey, if you want, I can teach you how to do a backflip"  
"Really!?"  
"Yeah. Sure!", he exclaimed in joy, but their plans were quickly interrupted when both of their stomachs growled. Making them both giggle as they realized that hey had gotten hungry. So as they ate their stolen goods, they continued talking the night away with the rain as their only other companion...


	4. The Hero Always Shows Up At High Noon, Even in the Heat of the Summer Sun...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It gets a little angsty but not too badly...

As May-lin, her brother and Grandmaclops approached the Mao Family Mansion, May-lin even with Grandmaclop's soothing esstential oils mix, managed to bolt out of the van like a bat out of hell. She barely gave the front gate time to open as she leaped over the wall and ran into the house in search of her dear, precious son and his friend. She scowered and seacrhed the entire mansion from top to bottom, everything from the Mao Mao's room, to the dining room, library, the foyah, to her and Shin Mao's rooms, his sisters' rooms, even the secret nooks and crannies that Mao Mao showed her when she thought she lost him, when they were playing hide and seek and she would feak out. But... Nothing...  
May-lin stood still for a second scaring both her brother and Grandmaclops, everything was eerily quiet making the rain sound like a hail storm as it came down from the sky. As her brother was about to approach her, a flash of lightning crashed through the sky, May-lin dropped to her knees and started sobbing.  
"Will you please calm down, May-lin, we still have the tracking device, we can find the boys!", her brother stated as he pulled out the device from his pocket

May-lin immediately stopped crying as her whole demeanor changed as she quickly grabbed the device and followed its directions, outside towards... The Sacred Mao Family Tree... As she stood outside on the porch staring back and forth between the device and the tree, she felt her blood freeze in her veins as she hoped that weren't under that tree.  
As she got closer the tree, her movements were slow, almost robotic and the closer she got, the more her vision tunneled and it became harder to hear her brother calling out to her, telling her to come back inside. She has no idea how long they've been out here in this storm, for all she could know is that they could all ready dead or dying. But no matter how much she wanted body to move faster, it wouldn't for the fear of what she might find under the leaves and branches of the tree...

She just stood there for a few minutes... Unmoving... Drenched... Scared of what's to come... Unable to move her body... Was her child okay? Or will she find him curled with the badger boy, dead. Her anxiety wasn't helping her focus either as the thought of her son and his friend being potentially dead was filling her mind with static.  
But she couldn't let that stop her not if her baby was truly in danger and so with all the courage she could muster, she opened the curtain of branches, leaves and cherry blossoms, only to find that the boys were okay... Mao Mao had used his giant blankie (a giant waterproof, weighted comforter, that's lined with a tempurature insulating lining) and took a nap together with Badgerclops, which protected them from the cold of the rainy night... Making May-lin sigh in relief as her soon was safe and was no longer in danger, she was so happy that she broke down crying. The rain mixing wth her tears of relief and joy, until her brother came outside with an umbrella to protect her from the rain...

A couple hours later the boys woke up and thinking that they sccussfully escaped the adults, ran outside in glee with their leaves, only to be greeted by May-lin, Mao Mao's Uncle and Grandmaclops, who were all sitting on the porch, overlooking the Mao Family Tree. It was right then and there, that they realized that their plan failed and they weren't going to be able to see each other ever again. Making Badgeerclops start crying only for Mao Mao to follow suit as they didn't want their only friend to leave them... They'd be all alone again...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this chapter is a bit short and slow to update, I'm going through some things so writing isn't really easy for me right now...


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